Copenhagen, 14 December 2009 - ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) join forces to create the Bonn Center for Local Climate Action and Reporting - carbonn. "Cities will be one of the main drivers of climate change action so recording what they do is crucial," said David Cadman, President of ICLEI - Local Governments for sustainability. "Mitigation projects are a first step to achieving climate neutrality in cities and carbonn will be key to that transition." carbonn is a joint project of UNEP and ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability and aims at facilitating the access of local governments to climate benchmarking instruments on a global scale. carbonn will help local governments report and compare their commitments, policies, programs and performance in greenhouse gas emission reductions. carbonn will also play a pivotal role in developing standards and providing guidance on local emissions accounting and reporting. "carbonn will bring climate expertise to our city," said Jürgen Nimptsch, Mayor of Bonn in Germany. "This time it will be climate monitoring expertise. It makes sense to bring such a project to Bonn." Through carbonn, UNEP and ICLEI will work together for the development of low-carbon cities and communities and engaging cities in the UNEP Climate Neutral Network.

Notes to Editors Launched in February 2008, the Climate Neutral Network (CN Net) is a high-profile outreach initiative led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to promote a global transition to low carbon economies and societies. Today, the CN Net has close to 200 participants, including ten countries, three regions, 15 cities Aguascalientes, Arendal, Brisbane, Cape Town, Cascais, Copenhagen, Curitiba, Daejeon, Niteroi, Rizhao, Slough, Sydney, Vancouver, Växjö, and Waitakere), approximately 100 private companies, UN agencies and leading NGOs that have set some of the world's most ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets. CN Net gives participants a platform to present their strategies in climate neutrality to the world, providing visibility and inspiring others. It functions as a network for information exchange and sharing of practical experiences, making the best available knowledge on climate neutrality widely available to all. In the coming year CN Net will also provide technical support through a "help desk" function to assist existing participants, and those wishing to join, to develop emission reduction strategies, determine offsetting requirements, conduct inventories, set goals, etcICLEI has supported cities in local climate action for 17 years and "carbonn" will benefit greatly from ICLEI's extensive experience in facilitating climate action at a local level. Currently over 1100 local governments around the world have signed up for ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) programme.